Obama's 'Independent' Review Of Mass Spying Is Destined For Failure

In the wake of seemingly endless leaks from ex-NSA contractor
Edward Snowden, President Obama's attempt to manage the political
fallout seems destined to fail.

On Friday, Obama announced that he would form a "high-level
group of outside experts" to review intelligence and
communications technologies. This group, Obama said, would be
"independent" — able to step back freely — to review surveillance
technologies and "consider how we can maintain trust of the
people."

It only took the weekend for much of any trust in that group to
fade.

On Monday, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper
confirmed that yes, the review group would happen. He also
confirmed that, yes, he would be establishing
it.

This is the same James Clapper who gave false information to
Congress when asked whether the NSA was collecting data on
Americans.
He later apologized.

Perhaps most interesting in Clapper's statement on Monday is the
absence of wording used on Friday: independent, and outside.
In an expanded statement, the White House said the group
would present their interim findings to his office, and the final
report would go "through the Director of National
Intelligence."

"In practice — not theory — Clapper gets to chop the draft
of the interim and final reports, and the Office of
the Director of National Intelligence would — again, in practice
— assist in selecting the members of the review group," Robert
Caruso, a former assistant command security manager in
the Navy and consultant, said in an email.

This arrangement is sure to arouse suspicions, with
many Americans showing distrust after leaks of previously
unknown spying programs. Even Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), a
veteran politician and national security hawk, admitted as much
to Fox News Sunday:

“Right now there’s kind of a generational change. Young
Americans do not trust this government,” McCain said.
“Without trusting government you can’t do a lot of
things.”

Still, Caruso believes there can be good to come from such
a review. "I trust [Clapper] has the
best intentions at heart." But on whether that final report would
be transparent or heavily redacted, he told me, "we'll have to
wait and see."